Favorite Songs

albums

Leigh Ann's Top 100

Ran Prieur blog

Chrono Sunburst Playlist
All my favorite songs that, when ordered by year, don't throw off the flow of sounds. Mostly for my own curiosity, I've added the number of YouTube views (as of December 2018).
Alabama Sacred Harp Singers - Windham (1942?) [24k]
Neil Diamond - Holly Holy (1969) [3.5M]
Neil Diamond - Soolaimon (1970) [14k]
Exuma - Baal (1970) [410k]
Hawkwind - Space Is Deep (1972) [570k]
Brian Eno - On Some Faraway Beach (1973) [150k]
Big Star - Kangaroo (1974) [29k]
Hawkwind - Infinity (1979) [60]
Kirsty MacColl - They Don't Know (1979) [480k]
R.E.M. - Wendell Gee (1985) [110k]
Beat Happening - Indian Summer (1988) [72k]
Camper Van Beethoven - June (1989) [17k]
Camper Van Beethoven - All Her Favorite Fruit (1989) [110k]
R.E.M. - Belong (1991) [17k]
Beat Happening - Godsend (1992) [210k]
The Garbage and the Flowers - Carousel (1992) [5200]
Mazzy Star - Fade Into You (1993) [17M]
The Muffs - Eye to Eye (1993) [3400]
Bone Cellar - Dryrot (1994) [300]
The Promise Ring - A Picture Postcard (1996) [38k]
Carissa's Wierd - Blessed Arms That Hold You Tight, Freezing Cold and Alone (2001) [10k]
Joanna Newsom - En Gallop (2004) [100k]
Big Blood - The Rise of Quinnisa Rose (2007) [800]
Big Blood - Song For Baltimore (2007) [1800]
Orphans & Vandals - Argyle Square (2009) [290]
Big Blood - Destin Rain (2010) [3400]
The Rutabega - Turn On The Summer (2013) [420]

Chrono Sunburst Condensed
Kangaroo
June
Song For Baltimore

A Listening Autobiography
This list has some overlap with the list above, but here the songs are more in the order I heard them, plus stories.
Box Tops - The Letter (1967)
The number one song when I was born. Alex Chilton would go on to make music that was more challenging and less popular, and I've followed a similar path.
Sesame Street - That's About the Size (1971)
This video blew my mind at age four, and it might be my biggest single influence.
Gordon Lightfoot - Don Quixote (1972)
On family trips my dad would play music on the car stereo, and this was my favorite of all those songs.
Blondie - Heart of Glass (1978)
The first song I really loved. At the time I was drawn to the vocal melody of the chorus, and now I admire the crystalline soundscape of echoey low notes and high vocals.
Men At Work - Down By The Sea (1982)
The first band I really got into, and back then I liked their hits, but now I think this was their one great song.
Asia - Time Again (1982)
This was the number one album of 1982, and when you like the same music as everyone else, it's easy to believe in objective quality. Now, not so much. Asia was my gateway from pop to the complexity of prog-rock, and soon I was listening to harder stuff like Genesis and...
Rush - Cygnus X-1 (1977)
I got obsessed with Rush around 1983 and bought all their albums. Now I think this is their best song, but at the time I thought it was another epic from the same album, Xanadu.
Blue Oyster Cult - Astronomy (live 1978)
At some point in high school I got into Blue Oyster Cult, and this song stood out, and still does, for its gothic poetry and hammering climax.
Dire Straits - Tunnel of Love (1980)
Their Making Movies album felt like higher quality music than I had previously been listening to, and I got even more into Love Over Gold. This song has an incredible guitar solo at the end.
Rush - No One At The Bridge (1975)
...but this guitar solo is the best, then and forever.
Wall Of Voodoo - Lost Weekend (1982)
Their Call of the West album was a new level of weirdness for me, and I loved it. Another gem from that album is Factory, a massive upgrade of Machines by Lothar and the Hand People.
Pink Floyd - Two Suns in the Sunset (1983)
It's too melodramatic for me now, but I listened so heavily to The Final Cut that I knew all the lyrics. The only Pink Floyd album I still like is Meddle.
Hawkwind - Motorway City (1980/1983)
My perennial second favorite band for more than thirty years. Now I like their heavier stuff, but this smooth and catchy song from their Zones album was an early favorite. See the Hawkwind section of my albums page.
R.E.M. - Wendell Gee (1985)
My hipper friends were already into R.E.M., but I didn't like them until I heard this unearthly masterpiece.
Beat Happening - Indian Summer (1988)
In college in Seattle, I heard this song when Beat Happening opened for Billy Bragg and immediately bought their Jamboree album, which was much weirder and more real than anything I'd heard before.
Camper Van Beethoven - June and All Her Favorite Fruit (1989)
I had been following this band since their first album, and their fifth, Key Lime Pie, blew me away with its complex, luminous music and poetic lyrics. These two songs blend together, and All Her Favorite Fruit was my favorite at the time, but June was the one I played louder.
Hammerbox - When 3 is 2 (1991)
The first heavy song with female vocals that I really liked. Compare it to Esben and the Witch's No Dog from 2014, or Le Tigre's The The Empty from 1999.
Big Star - September Gurls (1973)
The bit starting at 1:25 is like nothing before and not much since. I write more about them on the albums page.
The Muffs - Lucky Guy (1993)
I heard this on college radio, immediately bought their debut album, and became obsessed with the Muffs for years, for their catchy songwriting, tight fuzz guitar, and especially for Kim Shattuck's voice. Her best screaming is on Ethyl My Love, and Upside Down is a great song from their third album.
Mazzy Star - Fade Into You (1993)
This was the only time I really liked a new popular song, and I like it even more now that I understand the lyrics, in which unrequited love is a metaphor for this entire world of dark surfaces with bright depths that we can't touch.
Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (1998)
For years this was my number one, but it faded into the background when I discovered Big Blood. Another great Jeff Mangum song is this informal live version of Little Birds.
The Gathering Field - Lost In America (1996)
My first long-term girlfriend lived in Pittsburgh, where this band is from, and we listened to this a lot around 2006. I'm not a fan of heartland rock, but this is a profound and beautiful song about yearning for the undefinable. "Under an open sky, he stands with his eyes closed. If anyone asked him why, he would not know."
The Promise Ring - A Picture Postcard (1996)
I'm not a fan of emo, but a friend stayed with me and introduced me to this concise and luminous breakup song. The lyrics are a subtle gutpunch, from the setup, "Don't forget to kiss me if you're really going to leave," to the climax, "Keep your eyes on the road." I interpret it in more detail here.
Carissa's Wierd - Blessed Arms That Hold You Tight, Freezing Cold and Alone (2001)
I got into this band around 2012, and this song finally emerged as my favorite. Drunk With The Only Saints I Know and Phantom Fireworks are also great.
Orphans & Vandals - Argyle Square (2009)
My girlfriend has highly developed taste in music, which sometimes overlaps with mine, and nowhere more than this beautiful song from an obscure one-album project by London singer-songwriter Al Joshua. Again, here's her top 100 from a few years back.
Joanna Newsom - En Gallop (2004)
I heard this in 2013 and fell in love with Joanna Newsom's voice, which put me only one step away from...
Big Blood - Song For Baltimore (2007)
Extremely raw, extremely schmaltzy, and extremely epic, with my favorite singer's most intense performance and lyrics like a fairy invocation, this song owns me. I discovered Big Blood in 2014 through Graceless Lady, and have since decoded and devoured much of their massive and varied discography. See my Big Blood fan page, Ecstasy and Doom.


Big Blood - Camper Van Beethoven Playlist
Spotify only has four of the nineteen songs.
Camper Van Beethoven - Heart (1986)
Big Blood - Dead Song (2010)
Camper Van Beethoven - Jack Ruby (1989)
Big Blood - Creepin Crazy Time (2010)
Camper Van Beethoven - We Saw Jerry's Daughter (1986)
Camper Van Beethoven - Surprise Truck (1986)
Big Blood - Away Pt. III (2014)
Camper Van Beethoven - Klondike (1998?)
Big Blood - A Quiet Lousy Roar (2006)
Camper Van Beethoven - Five Sticks (1986)
Big Blood - Sequins (2007)
Camper Van Beethoven - Sweethearts (1989)
Big Blood - Adversaries and Enemies (2007)
Camper Van Beethoven - Good Guys and Bad Guys (1986)
Big Blood - Oh Country (Skin & Bones) (2008)
Big Blood - Destin Rain (2010)
Camper Van Beethoven - June (1989)
Camper Van Beethoven - All Her Favorite Fruit (1989)
Big Blood - Song For Baltimore (2007)



Space Elf Convergence
Loreena McKennitt - Tango to Evora (1991)
Cocteau Twins - Pandora (1984)
Big Blood - Indang Pariman (2007)
Joanna Newsom - Peach Plum Pear (2004)
Big Blood - Don't Trust The Ruin II (2007)
Joanna Newsom - En Gallop (2004)
Big Blood - No Gravity Blues (2008)
Lora Logic - Martian Man (1982)
Broken Social Scene - Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl (2002)
This is the twee Stairway to Heaven.
Big Blood - Destin Rain (2010)


Soft Hits 1971-1980
Probably my favorite category of popular music. It was a big project to whittle this list down to an hour and a half. All but one of these are on Spotify, so I've posted the list there, along with the four lists below.


Epic Instrumentals
Colin Stetson - Spindrift (2017)
Moondog - Torisa (1995)
Hawkwind - Wind of Change (1974)
Holy Fuck - Lovely Allen (2007)
Ennio Morricone - The Ecstasy of Gold (1966)
Retro Remix Revue - Gerudo Valley (2009)
Dick Dale - Misirlou (1962)
Nisennenmondai - Mirrorball (2008)


American Indie Rock 1985-1993
Another category of music that I know really well. Here's the list on Spotify.
Camper Van Beethoven - Ambiguity Song (1985)
It's getting hard to find a version of this that doesn't have a shitty live performance of another song tacked on the end.
R.E.M. - Life And How To Live It (1985)
10,000 Maniacs - My Mother The War (1985)
More revisionism. The superior Wishing Chair version of this song has been so well suppressed that both Spotify and YouTube misidentify the Secrets of the I Ching version as the Wishing Chair verson. This is a pretty good live performance.
Hüsker Dü - Powerline (1985)
I finally decided this is my favorite Bob Mould song.
Hüsker Dü - Books About UFO's (1985)
And right after it on the same album, my favorite Grant Hart song.
Violent Femmes - I Held Her In My Arms (1986)
The Add It Up version.
Camper Van Beethoven - Good Guys and Bad Guys (1986)
R.E.M. - Swan Swan H (1986)
And right after it on the same album...
R.E.M. - Superman (1986)
In the blend of sounds, this is like practice for Belong.
Beat Happening - Bewitched (1988)
Beat Happening - Pajama Party in a Haunted Hive (1989)
"Sting me, queen me, queen sting dream me, dream queen sting me, sting queen!"
Nirvana - Swap Meet (1989)
They were never quite my favorite band, but no celebrity death hit me harder than Kurt Cobain. Only recently has this song emerged as my favorite.
Mark Lanegan - Where Did You Sleep Last Night (1989)
Nirvana's famous live version is basically a cover of this, which covers a Leadbelly version of an old folk song called In The Pines. At the time it was a radical sound, and a milestone in grunge.
Mazzy Star - Halah (1990)
Chris Stamey - Something Came Over Me (1991)
The Fireworks version, actually recorded in 1988.
Beat Happening - Cry For A Shadow (1991)
Antenna - 7 Times (1991)
Screaming Trees - Bed of Roses (1991)
Easily their catchiest song.
Beat Happening - Teenage Caveman (1992)
I love to dance to this.
Unrest - Teenage Suicide (1992)
The Isabel Bishop EP version.
Corndolly - Come Out (1992)
Corndolly - Sex Kitten (1992)
Not sure about the date on these two.
The Muffs - Lucky Guy (1993)
The Muffs - Eye to Eye (1993)


The 2010's
I think that around 1965-1985, culture, economics, and technology converged into a golden age in which popular music was unusually beautiful and creative. Since then, with the rise of independent labels and the internet, the most creative musicians no longer have to compete or compromise for a mass audience; so there's more good music than ever, but it's more diverse, and harder to find.
Moon Duo - Mazes (2011)
Red Fang - Wires (2011)
Great video!
The Lovely Eggs - Don't Look at Me (I Don't Like It) (2011)
Silver Summit - Child (2012)
Advance Base - Summer Music (2012)
One of the best rhymes ever: summer dress with some duress.
Diane Coffee - Green (2013)
Nicole Dollanganger - Please Just Stay Dead (2014)
John Matthias - Pre-Loved / Vintage (2014)
Ichi - Go Gabambo (2014)
Doctopus - Wobbegong (2014)
Fat White Family - Touch The Leather (Redux) (2014)
A timeless gem of songwriting.
Timber Timbre - Grand Canyon (2014)
Your Friend - Bangs (2014)
Her most distinctive song, but Tame One is also great.
Living Hour - Summer Smog (2014)
Your Friend is from Lawrence, Kansas, and Living Hour is from Winnipeg, 800 miles north on the same plains.
Benjamin Clementine - Cornerstone (2015)
This will stand the test of time.
Sheer Mag - Fan The Flames (2015)
Heimat - Pompeii (2016)
The Parrots - No me gustas, te quiero (2016)
The Molochs - Charlie's Lips (2017)
Helicon - Seraph (2017)
Mattiel - Count Your Blessings (2017)
Lala Lala - Destroyer (2018)
The Lovely Eggs - Wiggy Giggy (2018)
Anna Von Hausswolff The Mysterious Vanishing of Electra (2018)
Insecure Men - Whitney Houston and I (2018)


Suicide Playlist
Leigh Ann helped me put this together for the blog and I archived it here. My favorite argument against suicide is that certain moments are worth staying for. From a 2016 reddit thread: "A sunny spring day, and the rain clouds were moving in. I went past a daycare where a little girl was dancing around, away from all the kids, by herself. You just never know, I thought to myself. What if I had killed myself, all that long time ago."
Big Star - What's Going Ahn (1973)
Nothing here about dying, but it's very sad, and it leads into the next song, by a band that sounds a lot like Big Star's third album.
Money - You Look Like A Sad Painting On Both Sides Of The Sky (2016)
Benjamin Clementine - Cornerstone (2015)
Again, the lyrics don't mention a suicide, but I like that interpretation.
Carissa's Wierd - So You Wanna Be A Superhero (2002)
That edge in her voice is so unsettling.
Badly Drawn Boy - A Minor Incident (2002)
The band has said that the lyrics are a suicide note from a mother to her son.
Bob Dylan - Ballad of Hollis Brown (1962)
The best known version is not on YouTube, but this is pretty close.
Violent Femmes - Country Death Song (1984)
This is so similar to Ballad of Hollis Brown that it's almost a cover, and a really good one.
The Decemberists - We Both Go Down Together (2005)
Clearly about a suicide, but I can't imagine the Decemberists ever being that unhappy.
Okkervil River - John Allyn Smith Sails (2007)
About the poet John Berryman.
Get Well Soon - If This Hat Is Missing I Have Gone Hunting (2008)
I love that weird crescendo.
Band of Horses - The Funeral (2006)
About living on the edge of death as a heroin addict.
Orphans & Vandals - Terra Firma (2009)
A long and challenging song that I didn't appreciate until listening several times.
Nick Drake - Saturday Sun (1969)
This must be the saddest song possible, because it also has so much beauty.


Unlisted Top Tier
The rest of this page is mostly for my own reference.
Beat Happening - Secret Picnic Spot (1990)
The song I want played at my funeral.
John Cooper Clarke - Valley Of The Lost Women (1978)
My favorite lyrics.
David Bowie - Space Oddity (1969)
This makes ordinary music sound like it was recorded with a cat sitting on the microphone. Every sonic texture is sharp-edged and beautiful, the mix is airtight, and the high keyboard and electric guitar, at 2:30 and again at 4:00, are brighter than the sun.
Exuma - 22nd Century (1971)
Rex Holman - Come On Down (1970)
Esben and the Witch - No Dog (live 2014)
Play it loud.
unknown - Misirlu (1927?)
The Doors - My Wild Love (1968)
OOIOO - Ina (1999)
The Kinks - Strangers (1970)
By Dave Davies. Ray is the brains of the Kinks but Dave is the heart.
R.E.M. - untitled (1988)
Michael Stipe says he hates sentimental songs, which means he'll only record one if it's this good.
R.E.M. - Nightswimming (1992)
"September's coming soon, I'm pining for the moon, and what if there were two, side by side in orbit around the fairest sun?"
R.E.M. - Don't Go Back To Rockville (1984)
This has even happier music and sadder lyrics than "Tom Dooley". The narrator is unreliable: his hometown is the depressing place and it's his life that's being wasted.
Orphans & Vandals - Metropes (2009)
This is like an old Kinks song that cynically mocks the elite, but it's darker and stronger. The bit from 3:30-3:42 should last five minutes.
Orphans & Vandals - Mysterious Skin (2009)
This makes Bohemian Rhapsody sound like children's music.
Sigur Rós - Svefn-g-englar (Sleepwalkers) (1999)
My favorite foreign language song, except for this.
Gravenhurst - Black Holes In The Sand (2004)
This is like the definition of psychedelic folk, unless it's Secret Garden.
Chris Bell - I Am the Cosmos (1975?)
To my knowledge, the only song with this stunning symmetrical structure: first verse, different verse, chorus, solo, chorus, different verse, first verse.
The Sundays - Here's Where The Story Ends (1990)
Harriet Wheeler was the hottest woman who ever recorded a great song. "The only thing I ever really wanted to say, was wrong, was wrong, was wrong."
Galaxie 500 - Blue Thunder (1989)
Dean Wareham sings like Adam Sandler but in this song it somehow makes a guitar inferno even better.


Instrumentals and Jams
Yo La Tengo - Spec Bebop (1997)
Is it pronounced Space Bebop? If you think it's boring, try it on marijuana.
Moondog - Invocation (1995)
Ten minutes of primal space rock with a barrage of low horns playing the same two notes over and over. These remind me of two Hawkwind songs -- Invocation is like Space Is Deep and Torisa is like Wind of Change.
Rachel Flowers - Piano Phase (2011)
The best performance of Steve Reich's inspired composition.
The Velvet Underground - What Goes On (1969 live)
The first part with vocals is nothing special, but the jam for the last six minutes is unprecedented and all-important in the history of my favorite music.
Moon Duo - Love On The Sea (2009)
Sort of a cover of What Goes On.
Bob Dylan - Main Title Theme (1973)
I love Bob Dylan's voice, and somehow he also did one of my favorite instrumentals. From the soundtrack to Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
Symphonies of the Planets 1 (1992)
The Voyager space probes recorded electromagnetic signals from around the solar system, and back on Earth these were converted into sound. Collages of these sounds were released as NASA Voyager Space Sounds, separated into ten 30 minute tracks from different places, and also as Symphonies of the Planets, with different planets blended into five 30 minute CD's. All the prettiest and spookiest stuff, mostly from the rings of Uranus, is on CD 1.
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Gathering Storm (2000)
GYBE took the slow buildup to a whole new level. My other favorites include East Hastings and Moya.
The Police - Voices Inside My Head (1980)
Sting's songwriting was a trick to get people to listen to the genius of Summers and Copeland, which was never better than this.
Neu! - Hallogallo (1972)
One of the deepest roots of my favorite newer jam music.
Yes - Würm (1970)
The last section of Starship Trooper. It's no Space Is Deep, but it's still the best jam in prog rock.
Ludwig van Beethoven - Great Fugue (1826)
Supposedly you have to understand this on an intellectual level to appreciate it, but I don't know anything about classical music, and this is the only classical piece I've ever heard that I love. It's so dense and wild that it almost sounds like free jazz.


Covers
The Beach Boys - Sloop John B (1966)
Inspired upgrade of a folk song from the Bahamas.
Wall Of Voodoo - Ring of Fire (1980)
Also the guitar solo covers and improves the Our Man Flint movie theme.
R.E.M. - Crazy (1987)
Originally by Pylon.
Galaxie 500 - Listen, The Snow Is Falling (1990)
Originally by Yoko Ono.
Loreena McKennitt - Greensleeves (1991)
Improvised in one take, and its rawness makes it sort of her best song.
Big Blood - Vitamin C (2007)
Originally by Can.
Steve Mauldin - The Abominable O Holy Night (199?)
It's easier to unlock genius by trying to be bad than trying to be good, and this masterpiece of badness must be what Song For Baltimore sounds like to other people. Related: Guy Plays A Cat Organ, and a mind-blowing version of Greensleeves on Otamatone.




Second Tier
Wall Of Voodoo - Back In Flesh (1981)
Joanna Newsom's "En Gallop" is sort of a cover of this. They have the same theme, the conflict between the world of spirit and the money economy. They use the same uncommon meaning of the word "flesh" for how your body chains you to an unpleasant material world. And the riff near the beginning of "En Gallop" is almost the same riff that starts at 2:09.
Camper Van Beethoven - Lulu Land (1986)
The band's best lyrics were written by David Lowery's otherwise unknown roommate, Paul McKinney. "In Lulu Land the walls are soft and dark, in Lulu Land your secret heart is in command, in Lulu Land."
Joanna Newsom - Sadie (2004)
"And all that we built, and all that we breathed, and all that we spilt, or pulled up like weeds, is piled up in back; and it burns irrevocably."
Joanna Newsom - Clam Crab Cockle Cowrie (2004)
Best breakup song ever. Check out this interpretation by MisterPuzzles.
Joanna Newsom - This Side of the Blue (2004)
I love the verse about the birds.
Bob Dylan - Idiot Wind (1975)
I can never resist singing along with this. YouTube only has the New York version that was correctly cut from the album.
Bob Dylan - Visions of Johanna (1966)
Like many of my favorite songs, this is about the tension between the world of spirit (Johanna) and the world of flesh (Louise).
Bob Dylan - Girl From The North Country (1963)
On a good stereo the final harmonica solo is the heaviest thing Bob Dylan has ever played.
Bob Dylan - One More Cup Of Coffee (1976)
Rocketship - I Love You Like The Way That I Used To Do (1996)
After REM's Belong, this is the song I'd play to convince aliens to not exerminate humanity. (If I wanted them to do it, I'd play We Are The World.)
Beat Happening - Tiger Trap (1992)
Dire Straits - Skateaway (1980)
Their most magical song.
Dire Straits - Portobello Belle (1978)
Like Skateaway, this is a beautiful song about the divine feminine. It's not as precise or complex, but the whole sound on Communique has a depth that's not on any of their other albums.
Dire Straits - Lady Writer (1978)
Sultans of Swing has a great guitar solo, but otherwise this leaves it in the dust.
Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (1991)
You have to go back to "Like a Rolling Stone" for a song that's both this good and this influential. After listening to 90's rock inspired by Nirvana, it's incredible to listen to this and hear how much better it is.
Red House Painters - Katy Song (1993)
I don't like Mark Kozelek's lyrics or voice as much as I used to, but this song is brilliant, and someone should cover it.
Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime (live 1984)
Not a fan of their sound, but these are great lyrics.
Neil Diamond - I Am The Lion (1970)
Weird song about the ancient conflict between sedentary and nomadic culture.
U2 - Bad (live 1985)
Gary Numan - Down In The Park (live 1980)
Originally from his tinny-sounding first album, Gary Numan's best written song sounds much better live in the movie Urgh! A Music War.
Galaxie 500 - Flowers (1988)
This is what reverb was invented for.
Pulp - Common People (1995)
The full-length version totally rocks!
The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize? (2002)
The Flaming Lips edge out Neutral Milk Hotel in the category of best band worst name.
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
I like the KEXP live version best, and made the video with a camera toss image I found on the internet years ago.
The Velvet Underground - Candy Says (1968)
Their best written song. Sung by Doug Yule.
Devo - Gut Feeling (1978)
This is like Space Is Deep backwards, with an incredible rising jam in the first half, and pretty good vocals in the second.
Jack Nitzsche - Old Enough To Know (1981)
This song has never been released or even bootlegged -- you can only hear it by watching the movie Cutter's Way, and only the first verse plays clearly. I bought the dvd just so I could extract it for the video.
Warren Zevon - I Was In The House When The House Burned Down (1999)
The second best song title ever, after Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun".
Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind (1970)
Gordon Lightfoot - Cobwebs and Dust (1970)
I love the structure of this song: a simple 18 note vocal melody repeated 16 times with changing lyrics.
Gordon Lightfoot - Carefree Highway (1974)
Gordon Lightfoot - Farewell to Annabel (1972)
The most mature breakup song I've ever heard.
Gordon Lightfoot - Affair on 8th Avenue (1975)
The superior Gord's Gold version of this song was cut from the CD and to this day has not been offered for sale in digital form. But it has been ripped from vinyl and it's on YouTube now.
Violent Femmes - Never Tell (1984)
More like a collection of scraps than a song, but every scrap is intense and inspired.
Violent Femmes - I Held Her In My Arms (1985)
The Pogues - A Pair of Brown Eyes (1985)
The Beatles - Rain (1966)
My favorite Beatles song and Ringo's best drumming. I write more about the Beatles here.
Norman Greenbaum - Spirit In The Sky (1969)
Did ZZ Top take their whole sound from this?
Neil Young - Helpless (1970)
Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done (1972)
A perfect song, and I love the unexpected quick ending.
Neil Young - Powderfinger (1979)
Neil Young - Love And Only Love (1990)
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - I Put a Spell on You (1956)
The songwriting is nothing special but the performance is one of the most interesting things in the 20th century. Instead of covering it, other artists should try to play their own compositions with this kind of wild intensity.
The Old 97's - Valentine (1999)
Loudon Wainwright - New Paint (1972)
Johnny Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down (1970)
The best version of Kris Kristofferson's best song.
Fear - Let's Have A War (1983)
The best classic punk song.
Dead Kennedys - Kill The Poor (1980)
The second best classic punk song, and my favorite band name.
Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized (1983)
The third best classic punk song.
Flying Burrito Brothers - Sin City (1969)
The original alt-country band.
The Black Angels - Young Men Dead (2006)
It's like a post-punk When The Levee Breaks.
Cracker - I Want Everything (1993)
Cracker - I'm So Glad She Ain't Never Coming Back (2006)
Ramones - Oh Oh I Love Her So (1977)
Their purest love song, from their brilliant second album, Leave Home.
Ramones - Questioningly (1978)
This would make an awesome country song.
Donovan - Atlantis (1968)
The first half is an embarrassing spoken word bit, and the second half, a fourteen syllable repeating chorus, is one of the best things ever.
The Shins - New Slang (2001)
Here's another video showing the album cover references in that video.
The Twilight Sad - And She Would Darken The Memory (2007)
Toy - Dead & Gone (2012)
This is like the new wave Space Is Deep.
Have A Nice Life - Earthmover (2008)
Again, pretty good song, great jam.
Bob Geldof - I Don't Like Mondays (1981)
The live version from The Secret Policeman's Other Ball.
Timbuk 3 - Just Another Movie (1986)
Forgotten political song about how people are tricked into believing in the system that feeds on them.

Appendix: top by letter of the alphabet